Priority, or emergency section 8 HUD vouching choice vouchers, can be immediately provided to senior citizens, the disabled, veterans, women fleeing domestic violence, people fleeing a disaster and others. With the waiting list for many local public housing authorities (PHA) near you closed or backlogged for many months or years, a housing choice voucher can be very difficult to get. Find how below, in an emergency, an applicant may be given section 8 housing immediately to meet their need. The priority system used for applications to determine who is qualified is based on a point scale.

There are never any guarantees to having the application or wait process accelerated or to bypass the existing waiting list. There will always be limited funding from the federal government and a shortage of low-income housing units. So even though a section 8 emergency voucher is possible, the process for how to apply is still long, complicated, and time consuming.

Waiting list for section 8 emergency housing choice vouchers

There are a few different ways to be given priority for immediate HUD section 8 housing choice vouchers near you. Note that the applicant still need to meet all the other program terms, such as be low income, have limited assets, have residency within the jurisdiction, and other criteria. Any home or apartment provided will also be income based, and the tenant will need to pay 30% of their total household income for the rent on the section 8 property. The landlord also needs to participate in the program. Those conditions of the HCV program do not change.

Emergency section 8 is also called a priority list. The determination is based on a point scale, with a higher score meaning the applicant may be placed towards the top of the wait list. The person seeking the rent voucher also needs to have a home available that meets their preference. All of the following groups of individuals may be able to bypass a section 8 waiting list to get an emergency voucher immediately. Or they may be put to the top of a waiting list when the next voucher or apartment becomes available in their community.

Senior citizens and the elderly, and there may be supportive housing offered too them immediately that offer on site medical care.
Disabled, whether mental or physical.
Veterans and service members can bypass the wait list as well to be given an emergency section 8 HUD voucher.
Anyone that was displaced from another public housing unit.
Women (or men) as well as children fleeing domestic violence or abuse may be placed into a shelter, then moved on an emergency basis into the Housing Choice Voucher section 8 program.
If someone has had a house destroyed by say a fire, floor, or natural disaster, they may be given priority too. But more than likely FEMA housing is used for them.

All those situations may apply. A local HUD qualified public housing authority can provide more information on the terms and conditions as well as how to apply. However, the most likely situation in which a emergency housing choice voucher is given will be if the applicant is a very low income senior citizen or disabled person. The Department of Housing and Urban Development makes more efforts to get them to the top of waiting list, if their housing unit preference becomes available.

To apply for an emergency section 8 voucher, and to try to be given priority to bypass a waiting list, immediately call a local public housing authority in your town or county near you. Select a state below to find a housing authority in your area for priority review. The search bar at the top can be used to find one, or HUD has a customer support number at (800) 955-2232 for emergency section 8.

Additional emergency housing options

Note, emergency housing choice voucher programs still take time to process. There are no guarantees from any PHA that someone will be given priority, no matter their background or situation. So, the applicant may not be given priority at all. So, it will take a while to get any rent assistance from the section 8 program.

If the tenant has an imminent crisis, such as maybe an eviction or pay or quit notice from their landlord, there are other resources available as well. Most of this form of financial aid is offered by charities, non-profits, or homeless prevention programs. For a list of programs that provide rent assistance in an emergency to qualified low to moderate income families that are in a crisis.

By Jon McNamara

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